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New Lenovo ThinkPad Range with Ryzen 4000 and 4000 Pro Mobile
- ohazi 6y agoSo I guess that's the new Thinkpad naming convention? T490 -> T14 T590 -> T15 ..etc
- rincebrain 6y agoYeah, I believe they're switching to branding similar to the X1 Carbons across everything, so it'll be T14 generation 1, generation 2, etc. I just hope this doesn't imply they're going to start making laptops a lot like other manufacturers (e.g. less durable, more soldered down components, ...)
- linguae 6y agoI can't make any statements regarding quality, but regarding soldered RAM, unfortunately this practice has spread outside of the X1 Carbon lineup. The ThinkPad X280 and X290 have soldered RAM with no DIMM slots, and the ThinkPad T490 has soldered RAM but with an extra DIMM slot for some upgradeability (compare to my T430, which has no soldered RAM and instead has two DIMM slots). There are still some ThinkPads that don't have soldered RAM, such as the P53 and the P1. Regarding storage, on the other hand, I don't believe the ThinkPad lineup has gone down the road of soldered SSDs, not even in the X1 Carbon lineup.
- buggeryorkshire 6y agoCan confirm, my X1 Carbon doesn't have a soldered SSD. Best laptop i've ever had tbf and works wonderfully under Fedora 32.
- noisy_boy 6y agoYes X1 Extreme as well - two DIMM slots and two non-soldered SSDs. Pretty much future proof for atleast 4-5 years for me.
- NullPrefix 6y agoPreviously they matched the numbers with Intel CPU gen. T420 - Sandy Bridge, 2640M T430 - Ivy Bridge, 3340M T440 - Haswell, 4300U And so on and so on.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 6y agoI was just on Lenovo's site two days ago looking for new Ryzen laptops. Sweet!
- jagger27 6y agoMajor bummer to see they're still using 16:9 displays, even when the lower bezel area could easily accommodate a 16:10 display. I am however very pleased to see Lenovo embracing AMD in their high end products.
- SloopJon 6y agoFor all of its quirks, I love having a 3:2 display on the MateBook X Pro. Besides the Surface Laptop and Surface Book, there's not much else on the market with this aspect ratio.
- khasan222 6y ago15+ hours of battery life on all of them? I would upgrade my machine for that alone.
- ggreer 6y agoLike most PC manufacturers, Lenovo's exaggerates battery life claims. 15 hours is basically if you're idling the machine at minimum brightness with bluetooth and wifi disabled. For example: Lenovo claims that my 7th gen X1 Carbon has "up to 18.3 hours" of battery life. Typically my laptop uses 5-10 watts. It can go as low as 2.5 watts if I dim the screen to its lowest setting, close all applications, and disable the radios. The battery is 52 watt-hours, so that would be 20 hours of "usage" before it runs out of juice. Really though, I get 5-12 hours depending on what I'm doing.
- selykg 6y agoThis is one of the many reasons I keep buying Apple laptops. Their stated battery life claims are usually pretty close or at least reasonable enough. Then I hear all these types of things about PC manufacturers are it just makes paying more for a MacBook a little less frustrating.
- snazz 6y agoLuckily, there are usually third party reviews with accurate battery life claims, at least for more popular laptops (like any ThinkPad). You're right that Apple does do a good job of accurately advertising battery life. On the other hand, since thermals aren't great on most MacBooks, some of Apple's performance statistics are only accurate for the first few minutes until the processor starts to thermal throttle.
- anewguy9000 6y agohow long does it last while asleep? i can close my macbook and come back to it days later and she always boots right up. just curious if the thinkpads are similar
- vzaliva 6y agoAs soon as they support Linux...
- apetresc 6y agoHuh? Who, Lenovo or AMD? They both have fine Linux support.
- vzaliva 6y agoWhat about problems people mention here? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22969469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22969469 I love ThinkPad and planning to buy one soon, but reporters of problems with sound and WiFi drivers concerning.
- dgzl 6y agoI've been running Arch on X1Y2 no problem
- eropple 6y agoThe newer Carbons and the X1 Extreme have had a rougher time than most Lenovo laptops. My T480 and T580 were pretty much perfect from the jump, but my X1 Extreme remains disappointing.
- petschge 6y agoRecently bought T490 worked with Debian stable out of the box.
- noisy_boy 6y agoI installed Ubuntu 19.04 on X1 Extreme Gen 2 and didn't have any issues. Upgrades to 19.10 and 20.04 have been painless as well. Everything basically works.
- eropple 6y agoI have an X1 Extreme Gen 1 and it's had power/battery issues since I got it.
- jadbox 6y agoAre they all just using an integrated gpu?
- daffy 6y agoIs there something like the Intel-Management-Engine backdoor on this too? Is it possible to replace it with coreboot or libreboot?
- pb82 6y agoYes, there's the AMD PSP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Platform_Security_Processor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Platform_Security_Processo...). It's an ARM core with similar concerns, but even less is known about it.
- Skunkleton 6y agoIntel ME cannot be replaced.
- alexbanks 6y agoIs it possible to get a ThinkPad without the rubber thing in the center of the keyboard?
- vinay427 6y agoHa, meanwhile I wouldn't buy a ThinkPad (or any other laptop) without it. As for your question, I've never heard of at least the "real" ThinkPad series laptops (X/W/T/...) sold without the TrackPoint. Does it really bother you when typing? If it's the appearance, you can likely find a black nib for purchase or maybe remove the included nib and blacken it out.
- dgzl 6y agoSame. Once I learned how to use it, I can't go back. Recently my work laptop was switched to a Dell without the nub and I noticed reduced workflow immediately.
- oefrha 6y agoI grew up a fan of the track point, back when trackpads were either nonexistent or hot garbage (at least on PC laptops). Which is to say I definitely “learned how to use it”. Then I switched to Mac laptops a decade ago. Since then I’ve got to touch the track point a few more times and it felt so dated. People still tout the precision, but I can get the same level of precision on a quality trackpad, plus much needed fluidity in general, not to mention multitouch gestures.
- jaifraic 6y agoFor me, it's not about precision. With the Trackpoint I can rest my hands on the Keyboard/Homerow and I can use the pointer without having to move my hands at all.
- oefrha 6y agoThat’s fair. I personally don’t mix typing and trackpad usage very much so that advantage is pretty minimal for me.
- sneak 6y agoI'm wondering how long, or if ever, it takes for reasonable people to resume buying Lenovo products after they got busted using a firmware-based rootkit to reinstall their manufacturer spyware onto a freshly formatted OS install (the same year they got busted preinstalling third-party adware, which resulted in an FTC settlement/fine). Do you wait like a year or three? five? Do you never buy Lenovo again? What's reasonable? This isn't rhetoric: I'm legitimately asking for a figure, as well as a rationale, because I don't know the answer. Personally I'm in the market for a high end laptop for running Linux, and I just couldn't see myself buying something from them ever, no matter how good their machines are, because I just don't trust the people in the organization who develop products to take system integrity seriously enough.
- voqv 6y agoWasn't it claimed that did not happen on the Thinkpad lines?
- _eht 6y agoWasn’t it claimed that it was not happening, generally?
- _eht 6y agoIt’s two years. But seriously check out system76 hardware. I’ve been pleased.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- 1MachineElf 6y agoIf system76 would put a TrackPoint onto a laptop keyboard, then I'd never need Lenovo again.
- esaym 6y agoI've thought the same thing. Doesn't IBM hold some patent/royalties on the use of a "trackpoint" though?
- koverda 6y agoOn a tangential note, I recently switched from an XPS 15 to a X1 Carbon. The thinkpad is a completely uncompromised device. It feels like a laptop from the future, where nothing sucks. The keyboard is great, the screen is great, the touchpad is great, the keys are all there, it's super light, but super solid, there's a bajillion ports. Anyone considering a new laptop should give a good look at thinkpads. They also have ridiculous sales from time to time - I got my X1C for about 50% of retail price.
- randlet 6y agoSame. I love my X1 Carbon.
- techolic 6y agoThe keys are all there - laptop review from 2020.
- koverda 6y agoIt's an important consideration!
- GordonS 6y agoWhat display did you go for?
- berbec 6y agoI got the 1080p low power. I get 8+ hours of full brightness Netflix!
- GordonS 6y agoI just had a look (in the UK), and it doesn't look possible to go higher than 16GB of RAM, which is a deal breaker for me - I regularly go above that when running VMs and containers for dev and test work. For such an otherwise powerful machine, I don't k ow why they'd limit it?
- 6y ago
- ldng 6y agoWell, I hope those are better under linux than the A485 and aren't running as hot and a sluggish wireless driver ... it has been a disappointment.
- lliamander 6y agoThings were already better for linux with last year's models. My E495 works flawless with Linux.
- solarkraft 6y agoLooks like a joke. There is seemingly not even one configuration with a display resolution above full HD.
- nsriv 6y agoThey're beginning the rollout in the E-series which is their budget line of Thinkpads. Not sure what your metric is, but getting better than Full HD in a Windows portable for $639 is par. (Surface Go 2, being the one exception I can recall).
- pedrocr 6y agoYou can't get it in any of them. The same T series that gets a 1440p screen with Intel doesn't with AMD. It's still a budget line. Maybe in one more generation we can go all the way and get a 4K X1 with a Ryzen.
- solarkraft 6y agoI'd pay 1,5k€ for a machine with really good specs (USB-C charging, good build, 15", good screen, preferably an AMD processor, good/great touchpad, perfect linux support, upgradable RAM), but haven't yet found a laptop that matches these requirements. I don't care so much about light weight, as I'm looking for a semi-workstation. The closest thing I've seen so far is (apparently, it's almost impossible to even find out the model code this is supposed to have, I think it's GA401IV-HA026T?) the Asus Zephyrus G14. There's talk about a 15" version (heck, I'd happily take 17" or more), I sure hope it won't be more expensive.
- greendave 6y agoGood looking laptops with excellent CPUs. It is a bit unfortunate that they don't support Thunderbolt though. The ability to add an external GPUs/PCIe cards widens the horizon a lot for desktop-replacement systems.
- greggyb 6y agoMy dream laptop isn't there yet, but this is hopeful. I want an X13 or T14 with an -H series CPU. I think the X13 is unlikely, but Asus has shown us that you can fit a 4900HS into a 14" laptop. It's not an absolute necessity for me. I do my primary computing on a desktop, and always offload compute onto it from a laptop for anything heavy. It's nice to have some local grunt, though.
- manishsharan 6y agoAm I the only one who is upset that Lenovo T series has dropped external battery ? I am running Ubuntu on a T480 with an extra battery in my bag. I don't think any other laptop has ever given me as much joy. And I almost never run out of juice even though I always code without being plugged into a power source. Bring back the external battery !!
- phonon 6y agoSince they use USB-C power port, you can use an USB-C external power bank now. https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-c-battery-packs-and-power-banks/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-c-battery-packs-a...
- jamesmunns 6y agoThe workaround for this is that you can now get external USB batteries that support PD, and most Lenovos use USB with PD for their main charging cable, which means you can carry around a device that can charge your laptop on the go. It's not as slick as the "swap batteries, now you're fully charged", but on the other side, the USB batteries can charged without the laptop, and you can pick the size you're willing to carry around.
- Joeri 6y agoI find the battery situation very frustrating. They put in way undersized batteries on everything except macbook pro priced models. Spec-wise a T14 is more than fine, but a 50 Wh battery is not enough if you actually use it unplugged for software development. You go to the T14s and suddenly the battery gets a bit bigger, in a machine that is supposed to be thinner and lighter. And if you go to the X or P series it gets bigger again. I can’t help but think they deliberately handicapped the affordable segment of their line-up with tiny batteries to upsell people.
- siver_john 6y agoI agree that was quite disappoint as it was one of the large reasons I bought my T470. And for those who are saying hey just use an external, that's great until your internal battery starts dying and replacing it becomes a nightmare (which for less tech savvy people it's much easier just to swap the external than dealing with the internal).
- acd 6y agoGreat that we now have AMD CPUs in Lenovo laptops. The Lenovos they should be named AT490, AX490 and AL490 so the next Lenovo model would be named AT500 and so forth. Where A would mean AMD.
- anewguy9000 6y agocan any thinkpad owners comment on the random shutdown bug? https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/X1-Carbon-Gen-7-regularly-mistakes-empty-battery-and-shuts-down/m-p/4561156 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/X1-Ca...
- slaw 6y agoT15 should have touchpad in the middle, not to the left.
- maxioatic 6y agoI have a X1 Carbon 3rd gen (2015) that is starting to get beat up (man is it durable though). I've been waiting to upgrade to a Thinkpad with a Ryzen 4000, so I'm super excited about these. I might switch to the T series though (for more RAM) and replace my aging desktop as well. As an aside I've been running Ubuntu 16 for the last couple years no problem. Recently updated to Ubuntu 20 and it's been great so far.
- qatanah 6y agoHow does Thinkpad compare to the trackpad of mac nowadays? The only thing that makes me use mac is the trackpad and retina. I have 15" late 2015 mbp, so far the best mbp out there w/o the butterfly keyboard. Im still considering to go back to thinkpad for my next laptop since i had t42p, t60 before.
- lliamander 6y agoI don't think as good, but I don't know for sure since I never use the trackpad on my thinkpad. The trackpoint (little red dot) is just so much more convenient for me.
- dade_ 6y agoI have an X1 Carbon Gen 3 tablet. I have had plenty of issues, but the trackpad is the best I have used since my MacBook Pro, and I don't think a better trackpad experience is better on Windows. Also better than the Surface line, though those would be the next best IMO.
- obrajesse 6y agoThe hardware is lovely, but the quality of the hardware support service is not what it used to be. I recently had to get service for my current generation X1 Carbon. Completely understandably, Lenovo are not currently able to provide on-site support at residential addresses. However, right now the best case for a depot repair appears to be around 3 1/2 weeks. Call center staff say that they have been prohibited from giving any kind of a timeline for a repair or even an escalation call-back by management. Lenovo says this is due to Covid, but friends of mine (And a very chatty call center rep) report that it began in January when they moved their primary repair operation from Tennessee to Texas.
- tracker1 6y agoStill want to see a 4800H/4900HS with an RTX 2070 Max Q option... Edit: and at least 32gb ram. It really feels like Intel is paying the laptop mfgs off on this one. Almost every AMD laptop this generation is gimped with single-socket ram upgrades and/or capped with RTX 2060 graphics.
- jdashg 6y agoWhat are you doing that needs such a wide CPU and beefy GPU? That's a real narrow niche between GPU-heavy gaming laptops, and cheaper many-cored desktops. I would love a 4900 with no dGPU, myself. (wide-CPU compile workloads) The iGPU in these is plenty for my portable needs, especially at 1440p. Ideally we'd have good external GPU support, so we choose to hook it up to a real heavy-hitter.
- tracker1 6y agoDoes it really matter? The fact is, I use that much CPU/Ram for work tasks... and I'd like a 2070 as a baseline for the occasional gaming. Since AMD systems are likely 1-2 years away from seeing good, broad Thunderbolt support (probably aligned with USB4), eGPU isn't an option. AMD currently does more, with less power than the Intel counterparts in the upper end classes of systems. Find me a laptop with a 2070 Max Q that isn't at the higher price point that the AMD 4800H doesn't fit into.
- lliamander 6y agoI really can't wait for AMDs deal with Asus over the Ryzen 4000HS chips to end. The idea of a T14 with a 4900HS (a T14p, if you will) and no dedicated GPU would make a fantastic compact developer machine.
- windex 6y agoDo these have soldered-on RAM, batteries, and/or SSDs? I usually end up upgrading my laptops over a period and the flexibility in being able to do this is important to me.
- esaym 6y agoWe won't know 'til they are released. But currently the premium for the higher end (and thinner) "T" series is the cpu and ram are soldered. There might be one blank ram slot, not sure. Ironically for the cheaper 'e' series, the ram is socketed (not sure about the cpu). So hopefully for the new 'e' and 'l' series, they'll stay the same. More than likely because the 'T' series are being pushed to be thinner and thinner, they will remain soldered.
- temptemptemp111 6y agoSupports ECC?
- myu701 6y agoCan anyone with experience in HP Elitebook laptops recommend which Thinkpad models I should look at? I like the idea of a Ryzen processor and I prefer ports/power over portability/pose.
- scalatronn 6y agoAll I want is X1 yoga with 3:2 screen ratio and AMD ryzen... guess I will wait for X years for them to do anything...